Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Utah Invitational on October 3, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs Utah Invitational
Friday, November 8
Los Angeles, CA
All Day
University of Utah
vs
LMU Invitational
Photo by: Steve C. Wilson
Utah Men's Tennis To Conclude Fall Play at LMU Invitational
11/7/2019 2:03 PM | Men's Tennis
FIRST SERVE
The University of Utah men's tennis team is set to close out the fall season this weekend at the LMU Invitational. The final tournament of the quick fall season for Utah will run Friday through Sunday, Nov. 8-10, at the LMU Tennis Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
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TOURNAMENT TALK
At the LMU Invitational, each team will play three matches of both singles and doubles, with six individual singles matches and three doubles matches per day for each team.  Along with the Utes, teams competing at the event will be tournament host LMU, along with Utah State, and UC Irvine.Â
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Friday's action will get underway with singles at 9 a.m. PT with Utah set to face UC Irvine. Singles action will be followed by the first doubles match of the weekend for the Utes, competing against host LMU at 12 p.m. on the first day. There will be no live results or stream, however, a recap of each day's action will be made available at UtahUtes.com after the conclusion of competition each day.
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SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Friday, Nov. 8Â
Utah vs. UC Irvine (Singles) – 9 a.m. PT
Utah vs. LMU (Doubles) 12 p.m. PT
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Saturday, Nov. 9Â
Utah vs. LMU (Singles) – 9 a.m. PT
Utah vs. USU (Doubles) – 12 p.m. PT
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Sunday, Nov. 10Â
Utah vs. USU (Singles) – 9 a.m. PT
Utah vs. UC Irvine (Doubles) – 12 p.m. PT
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BENKAIM BOLTS TO SEMIFINALS
Junior Russell Benkaim tabbed a deep run at the ITA Regionals a few weeks ago, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On the first day, Benkaim saw a first-round bye in the round of 128 singles and in his first match against Gvidas Motuzas from Nevada, the eighth-seeded Benkaim defeated Motuzas 7-5, 6-4. Moving on the round of 32, he then surpassed his next opponent Ben Gajardo from BYU with a score of 6-4, 7-5.
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Benkaim matched up next against Andreja Petrovic and downed the opponent from North Dakota 6-1, 6-4 to earn a spot in the semifinals. Benkaim's semifinal round matchup came against the 12th-seeded Mateo Vereau from BYU. Benkaim's run at the ITA Regionals ultimately came up just short, falling 6-3, 6-1.
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STARTING STRONG
At Utah's home tournament, the Utah Invitational, Russell Benkaim and Azat Hankuliyev won their respective groups in the singles draw, while Benkaim and doubles partner Paul McCallie claimed the title of their doubles draw.Â
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Benkaim and McCallie went undefeated on the weekend in doubles action, with two victories on day one, defeating duos from Montana State and Southern Utah. They then followed their dominance with two more wins on day two. On the final day of competition, they faced off against teammates Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin for the 'Drum and Feather' flight championship, coming out on top against Hankuliyev and Gavelin, 6-1, to finish first in the group.
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In singles, both Benkaim and Hankuliyev both went undefeated on the weekend. On day one of the tournament, Benkaim and Hankuliyev each picked up two wins to get the event started. The momentum continued on day two of the event and did not stop there when the two Utes completed the event by not dropping a singles match in the three-day round robin event.Â
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LAST TIME OUT
The University of Utah men's tennis team competed in the ITA Regional Championships in Denver in mid-October for its second event of the fall season. Benkaim's semifinal appearance after winning his first four matches highlighted the Mountain Region event for Utah. Outside of Benkaim, three other Utes also notched victories at the tournament.Â
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On the first day, Azat Hankuliyev came away with two straight victories. After advancing from the round 128 in his match against Marcos Zelver from Montana State, Hankuliyev then downed UNLV's Milos Dabic to advance to the round of 32 in the tournament. Moving on to day two, Paul McCallie notched two straight victories as well, defeating Daniel Dillon from Northern Arizona in the round of 64 consolation draw, then beating out Air Force's Patrick Sklenka in the round of 32 consolation draw. Mathias Gavelin also picked up a victory of his own during day two of action, as he was able to top Boise State's Ryland McDermot.
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In doubles, the 16th-seeded duo of Gavelin and Hankuliyev won their round of 32 match against Jordan Azuma and Denali Kitayama from Air Force, before dropping an extremely narrow match in the round of 16.
UP NEXT
After the conclusion of fall action at the LMU Invitational, the Utes will have a couple months of training before the 2020 season opener in January. Utah will kick off the spring season with a match at home against the University of Idaho on Thursday, Jan. 16, followed by a match later that evening against Weber State. The match against the Vandals will be held at noon, while the match against the Wildcats will be at 5 p.m. Both matches will be held at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City.Â
The University of Utah men's tennis team is set to close out the fall season this weekend at the LMU Invitational. The final tournament of the quick fall season for Utah will run Friday through Sunday, Nov. 8-10, at the LMU Tennis Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Â
TOURNAMENT TALK
At the LMU Invitational, each team will play three matches of both singles and doubles, with six individual singles matches and three doubles matches per day for each team.  Along with the Utes, teams competing at the event will be tournament host LMU, along with Utah State, and UC Irvine.Â
Â
Friday's action will get underway with singles at 9 a.m. PT with Utah set to face UC Irvine. Singles action will be followed by the first doubles match of the weekend for the Utes, competing against host LMU at 12 p.m. on the first day. There will be no live results or stream, however, a recap of each day's action will be made available at UtahUtes.com after the conclusion of competition each day.
Â
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Friday, Nov. 8Â
Utah vs. UC Irvine (Singles) – 9 a.m. PT
Utah vs. LMU (Doubles) 12 p.m. PT
Â
Saturday, Nov. 9Â
Utah vs. LMU (Singles) – 9 a.m. PT
Utah vs. USU (Doubles) – 12 p.m. PT
Â
Sunday, Nov. 10Â
Utah vs. USU (Singles) – 9 a.m. PT
Utah vs. UC Irvine (Doubles) – 12 p.m. PT
Â
BENKAIM BOLTS TO SEMIFINALS
Junior Russell Benkaim tabbed a deep run at the ITA Regionals a few weeks ago, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On the first day, Benkaim saw a first-round bye in the round of 128 singles and in his first match against Gvidas Motuzas from Nevada, the eighth-seeded Benkaim defeated Motuzas 7-5, 6-4. Moving on the round of 32, he then surpassed his next opponent Ben Gajardo from BYU with a score of 6-4, 7-5.
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Benkaim matched up next against Andreja Petrovic and downed the opponent from North Dakota 6-1, 6-4 to earn a spot in the semifinals. Benkaim's semifinal round matchup came against the 12th-seeded Mateo Vereau from BYU. Benkaim's run at the ITA Regionals ultimately came up just short, falling 6-3, 6-1.
Â
STARTING STRONG
At Utah's home tournament, the Utah Invitational, Russell Benkaim and Azat Hankuliyev won their respective groups in the singles draw, while Benkaim and doubles partner Paul McCallie claimed the title of their doubles draw.Â
Â
Benkaim and McCallie went undefeated on the weekend in doubles action, with two victories on day one, defeating duos from Montana State and Southern Utah. They then followed their dominance with two more wins on day two. On the final day of competition, they faced off against teammates Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin for the 'Drum and Feather' flight championship, coming out on top against Hankuliyev and Gavelin, 6-1, to finish first in the group.
Â
In singles, both Benkaim and Hankuliyev both went undefeated on the weekend. On day one of the tournament, Benkaim and Hankuliyev each picked up two wins to get the event started. The momentum continued on day two of the event and did not stop there when the two Utes completed the event by not dropping a singles match in the three-day round robin event.Â
Â
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Utah men's tennis team competed in the ITA Regional Championships in Denver in mid-October for its second event of the fall season. Benkaim's semifinal appearance after winning his first four matches highlighted the Mountain Region event for Utah. Outside of Benkaim, three other Utes also notched victories at the tournament.Â
Â
On the first day, Azat Hankuliyev came away with two straight victories. After advancing from the round 128 in his match against Marcos Zelver from Montana State, Hankuliyev then downed UNLV's Milos Dabic to advance to the round of 32 in the tournament. Moving on to day two, Paul McCallie notched two straight victories as well, defeating Daniel Dillon from Northern Arizona in the round of 64 consolation draw, then beating out Air Force's Patrick Sklenka in the round of 32 consolation draw. Mathias Gavelin also picked up a victory of his own during day two of action, as he was able to top Boise State's Ryland McDermot.
Â
In doubles, the 16th-seeded duo of Gavelin and Hankuliyev won their round of 32 match against Jordan Azuma and Denali Kitayama from Air Force, before dropping an extremely narrow match in the round of 16.
UP NEXT
After the conclusion of fall action at the LMU Invitational, the Utes will have a couple months of training before the 2020 season opener in January. Utah will kick off the spring season with a match at home against the University of Idaho on Thursday, Jan. 16, followed by a match later that evening against Weber State. The match against the Vandals will be held at noon, while the match against the Wildcats will be at 5 p.m. Both matches will be held at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City.Â
Players Mentioned
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